Shootout At The It's Not OK Corral
by SASundance
Summary: A so-called zinger results in a painful epiphany for Agent Balboa as he finally pulls his head out of his ass and decides it's time to stand up and be part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. Two part Tag. Eric Balboa, OCs
1. Chapter 1: The Elephant in the Room

**Zinger - a noun - a striking or amusing remark.**

A/N: One of the things which I find intensely irritating on NCIS is the writers' bad habit of throwing in supposedly 'witty' zingers that really aren't at all amusing. They're generally thrown in, completely out of the blue and have you asking what the hell just happened, or they're just nasty put downs, plain and simple. It shouldn't come as a surprise that after the zinger there's never any consequence or perhaps worse, no resolution either – it's simply thrown out like a hand grenade, it explodes and then the writers and characters ignored for it for ever more. Then again, the writers don't write consequences for huge stuff like revenge killing by their main characters, and they ignore procedure and the rule of law on a regular basis, so in the big scheme of things ignoring some type of consequences caused by these zingers seems pretty insignificant.

I can't help wondering though, if the little things had been properly addressed on the team, how might it have changed the bigger picture and the development of characters.

This is a tag from the season five episode Designated Target that had been sitting on my hard drive for a quite a while now (3+ years) and periodically I pull it up and play around with it. It has two parts and my thanks to Arress for the beta, although as mentioned above, further tinkering has taken place and errors are my bad. Thanks to the Trips for their feedback and RCEpups for her input on procedural stuff. Currently, as 2017 draws to a close I'm finding time to write new material to be in very short supply atm so I am finally getting around to posting this. Think of it as my Christmas gift to everyone (even if it isn't your average festive-fare-fluffy-tooth- rottenly-sweet fic) patiently awaiting (hint, hint) me to update my stories. So while it may not be your average holiday season story - call me The Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge if you will – just don't say I left you with nothing in your stocking!

Warning: This two-parter is most definitely NOT a warm and fuzzy team-is- just- one-big-happy-family story. If you know anything about me you'll know I'm a cynic. I don't write fairy tales or suffer from Pollyanna-rose-coloured-glasses delusions either. I'm guessing Gibbs, McGee and Ziva fans will not like how they are portrayed. If you ignore this dire warning, before complaining about content - then I challenge you to try repeating this particular 'zinger' to your immediate superior at work and see what happens in real life. Of course, you could just not read something that will annoy you, although in my experience some peoples' whole raisons d'etre for reading fan fic is to find stories they'll hate just so they can complain about them. Most of us read warnings, pairings, genres and if it isn't our thing we use the back button – I know I do.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters; don't make money from this story. I just get personal satisfaction in fixing some wrongs.

Showdown at the Not Okay Corral

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone. Henry A. Kissinger

 ** _"There have been 11 attacks on cab drivers in the last 60 days in DC and Maryland. Three are very interesting." [Ziva David]_**

 ** _"DiNozzo, put them up." [Leroy Jethro Gibbs]_**

 ** _"All three were shot with a 9mm and all three autopsies showed a tooth missing." [Ziva David]_**

 ** _"Enlarge the photos." [Leroy Jethro Gibbs orders Tony DiNozzo]_**

 ** _[Sounds of panic as DiNozzo struggles]_**

 ** _"C'mon tell me you just didn't lose all that information." [Gibbs growls at DiNozzo]_**

 ** _"McGee – I hit the space bar." [Tony DiNozzo]_**

 ** _"Just push the buttons I tell you to push, Monkey." [Tim McGee]_**

 ** _"Love is not treating you well, my friend." [Tony]_**

 ** _"Yeah; no kidding." [Tim]_**

 ** _Dialogue taken from Designated Target S05e08_**

Supervisory Special Agent Ric Balboa was working away quietly at his desk in the bustling bull pen, trying to get a-heads-up on his team's mid yearly evaluations. Endeavouring to let the general chaos of the bull pen wash over him, he grudgingly completed these blasted forms. Seriously they were the bane of a team leader's life. He honestly didn't see why it wasn't sufficient to complete performance evaluations once a year but the paper pushers in Human Resources just loved their paperwork. It justified their own existence when all was said and done.

He was peripherally aware of the MCRT as background noise. They'd just caught a case with an admiral and a gypsy cab driver who had both been callously gunned down earlier that day. The team was giving Gibbs a run down on the state of play so far.

"C'mon tell me you just didn't lose all that information." Gibbs yelled at his SFA in irritation. _Yeah cuz Jethro was just so handy with all things techie._

"McGee – I hit the space bar." Tony DiNozzo yelped desperately as Gibbs fumed impatiently.

"Press the buttons I tell you to press, Monkey!" McGee retorted irritated.

That blatantly insulting and wholly insubordinate comment made by Special Agent Timothy McGee managed to catch his full attention. The sheer nastiness and the tone with which it was delivered making it immediately apparent to Balboa that he didn't intend it to be a joke and even if he had, it was a whole inappropriate way to address his immediate superior.

The MCRT was legend amongst the other teams for what Gibbs et al referred to as their 'banter' but what the rest of the teams on the floor saw as toxic abuse, pure and simple. The other SFAs were quick to point out that most of the cutting comments were aimed almost exclusively at one individual – the major case response team's SFA, Tony DiNozzo. It had become much worse lately, ever since the end of his long-term secret mission for the director, it had become a free for all for all of Gibbs' team to put the boot in at every opportunity.

Speak of the devil - Ric noticed Director Shepard who was walking along the mezzanine level to the stairs. She paused and glared at the MCRT bullpen – unable to mask a shocked expression. Clearly, she had heard the exchange too and she was waiting with baited breath, like everyone else for Gibbs to tear the foolish miscreant a new one for such patent insubordination to a superior agent.

Balboa looked over the office partition to make sure the team leader was still present. He vaguely remembered hearing Jethro's voice but he hadn't been truly focused on them until McGee's totally inappropriate remark bludgeoned its way across his focus on his administrative work. And Ric was correct, Gibbs was there and no way that he hadn't heard McGee's outrageous comment since he was well known to have the hearing of a bat (especially when an underling made a disparaging remark about him). Since the remark had been made so publicly, surely this time he would have to act and discipline the very junior agent who at this point at about five years as a federal agent – long enough to know better.

Honestly, how could he let such barefaced insubordination from a junior agent towards the senior field agent go?

But nope, Ric was wrong, again. Gibbs didn't even bat an eye. It was the target of the insolent remark who responded.

"Love is not treating you well, my friend." DiNozzo enquired solicitously.

"Yeah; no kidding," McGee replied sarcastically. You could practically hear the eye roll.

 _'God damn it DiNozzo, I want to shake you till you get a clue, you idiot! STOP being so freaking understanding, so forgiving…STOP turning the other cheek._

 _A couple of months ago, you got attacked by a drug dealer, your car - your pride and joy was blown up, you were supposed to be driving and you broke up with a woman you were in love with. All in the space of a day. Yet you managed not to lash out at your superiors and insult them when they told you to do the job you were paid to do. No one would have blamed you if you'd told the director to go screw herself, but you stayed professional and delivered a sit rep despite everything that you'd endured in her illicit Op._

 _Stop excusing insubordination – McGee had an argument with his girlfriend – how long have they been together anyway. So. Feakin. What? Never going to be a justification for what he just said to you or any superior.'_

Damn it - Balboa really, really wanted to march into the bull pen and drag Gibbs' SFA off by his ear to shake the stuffing out of him for continuing to accept this inappropriate behaviour. He was going to have a serious talk with DiNozzo. Rip him a new one about allowing himself to be the whipping boy for his damned team. Letting them all get away with the disrespect for his position, was wrong. He had an obligation as a senior field agent to report serious infractions, especially insubordination and their repeated failures to observe the chain of command. To not do so made him equally responsible too.

Which was when it hit him like a bolt of lightning – didn't that equally apply to the rest of the agents as well. Certainly, the senior supervisory agents and senior field agents were culpable – well maybe the SSAs more so than Tony or the SFAs since they were of higher rank, yet they stood around and did nothing to stop it. He knew that Tony had tried to talk to Gibbs about the procedural problems on the team before. More than once in fact but Gibbs denied there was a problem – trotted out the 'My Team My Rules' crapola. Plus, to be fair, DiNozzo had gone to Director Shepard when Gibbs was in Mexico, wanting the Bobsie Twins disciplined and she'd fobbed him off, effectively making him a lame duck leader since no matter how they behaved he couldn't exert any consequences for their actions.

And everyone else had basically colluded with Shepard by doing nothing. Except burying their heads in the sand.

Balboa glanced around the room, noting the unresolved tension coming from others in the bull pen. Sure, it had only been a few seconds duration for the whole interaction to take place but time had seemed to freeze, maybe at the enormity of what went down or maybe the building of anticipation for everyone present. They were all expecting a MF of a Gibbs' ass kicking or at the very least an epic head slap, neither of which occurred. Even with Tony's typical efforts to diffuse the situation with empathy laced with humour, the heightened atmosphere on the floor still persisted. Up above, on the mezzanine level Director Shepard finally managed to school her expression into a blank mask, everyone taking their cue from her and went back about their business.

Except for Balboa who swore most uncharacteristically under his breath, "Fuck!" He knew there was times when a leader must lead, even if no one chooses to follow them. He'd heard somewhere that courage was contagious and hoped it was true. For too long now he's looked the other way and today he finally realised that it made him culpable too.

He turned to his computer savagely. Watching as Shepard headed into MTAC as of nothing had happened, he swiftly typed up an email and sent it off. If the director wouldn't do anything to stop this bullshit he'd be damned if he could or would ignore it any longer. None of them liked interfering in how another senior supervisory agent ran their team but this wasn't just about him or his team, it affected all team leaders – all their teams.

Ric and a few of the other SSAs who had seniority had actually tried talking to Gibbs unofficially about the abuse and insubordination by the junior members of his team and their lack of respect for their SFA. Gibbs just got pissed at them and brushed them off, claiming that the team engaged in harmless banter - it was part of their 'process' in solving cases. He insisted it was innocuous teasing, DiNozzo gave as good as he got and the rest of the team was just blowing smoke up his ass because he'd lied to them when he was undercover. As far as Gibbs was concerned, Tony should just suck it up and deal with it because he'd brought it on himself.

The problem, as far as he and others were concerned was that the junior team members didn't joke - actually their "remarks" were deliberately insulting and belittling and in the case if the two younger agents, insubordinate. To Balboa, there was nothing affectionate about their comments. Their so-called humour was always intended to wound...to demean DiNozzo and then there was the fact that it was always two of them or even three of them when Gibbs joined in, ganging up against one, sticking the boot into Tony. Even before Ziva's arrival, Cate had delighted in hitting him below the belt too but it had escalated even more since Gibbs return from retirement.

Particularly with the revelation that DiNozzo had been undercover, right under their noses – despite them supposedly being the top investigative team- well it sure had made a mockery of their ability to notice what was going on. So, from Ric's perspective the escalation, the venomous nature of their recent putdowns smacked of Gibbs punishing him for following Shepard's orders that he couldn't inform his team he was on an undercover mission.

In fact, the whole ganging up, three against one, especially when it was actively encouraged by the team leader taking part, amounted to workplace bullying in Ric's book. And not just his opinion but in all the workplace literature on the topic he'd consulted, too. Along with several other significant examples of workplace bullying that seemed very apropos - like excluding a member of the team from a workplace or social gathering and making an employee perform tasks well above or below their abilities.

Gibbs was definitely guilty of forcing DiNozzo to perform plenty of shit tasks well below his skills and level of seniority. Things like always making him gas the truck (despite it being a job that Cate, Ziva or McGee should be doing) especially since his return from his retirement -oops, his _margarita safari,_ because he was pissed with Tony over keeping mum about the La Grenouille Op. Then there was the notorious team dinner organised by Ziva when she first joined the team and the rest of the MCRT team were more than happy to participate in and exclude DiNozzo. To Balboa, it pointed to a well-entrenched team culture of bullying rather than a single individual being the culprit.

And while Gibbs was accurate as far as it went, Tony most definitely teased his team mates, unlike them, it certainly wasn't done viciously nor was it deliberately demeaning, and he was never calculatingly insubordinate to a superior either. DiNozzo had far too much respect for the chain-of-command, even though no one else on his team ever did. And wasn't that odd, cuz two of the MCRT had served in the military and the third had come from a military family and lived on a variety of Naval bases, so there was absolutely no excuse for their behaviour or insubordination for that matter. No, it was the kid who some people sneered at for being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the one who McGee and David theorised had his father buy his Phys Ed. degree, who was compulsive about observing the chain of command. Weird didn't begin to explain that!

Yes, DiNozzo was an inveterate prankster who liked to lighten the grim nature of their oft gruesome, thankless job and there were occasions when his sense of humour was frankly ill-timed and inappropriate. However, considering he also the team's whipping boy and he took it upon himself to deflect Gibbs' fury onto himself and away from others, including Ziva, Tim and Cate when she was on the team, Balboa was prepared to cut him a fair amount of slack.

As a team leader Ric couldn't find it in himself to be too critical of DiNozzo's antics as he knew the exceedingly high cost cops and feds paid for the horrific crimes, suicides and even accidental deaths they were routinely exposed to. Burnout and suicides were far too common, particularly amongst major case response teams or sex crimes teams and stress relief, via even off-colour jokes and or pranking were a recognised way of relieving pressure and far healthier coping mechanism than using alcohol or drugs as a crutch.

Balboa also suspected that DiNozzo's pranks and goofiness were a carefully crafted construct that hide the senior field agent's darker side. On rare occasions he'd seen glimpses of a fury that he believed would eclipse even the self-indulgent tantrum throwing anger of Leroy Gibbs, should he ever unleash his inner beast and wreck devastation upon anything near ground zero.

He rather wished that he had a Tony on his own team to defuse pressure when things got too intense. Someone who was prepared to have people irritated at him rather than being trapped inside of their own head, picturing the depravity and abject cruelty that humans could inflict on one another. His technique was actually a variant of the common team building tactic where the boss made themselves the target of hatred when two team members weren't getting along, to give them a common enemy to hate upon and band together to create cohesion. A displacement tactic and if anyone was adept at displacement and deflection it was Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.

Ric also had a fair idea that the frat boy humour would have been exponentially dialled back if Gibbs wasn't such an absolute bastard of a boss (it had definitely been the case that the pranks had markedly decreased during Gibbs' Mexican sojourn). The supervisory agent surmised that having to deal with Gibbs constant failure to observe the chain of command, the lack of respect for his senior field agent's position and requiring Tony to compete with the two juniors would be totally galling to an agent of DiNozzo's calibre and seniority. Hell, if Balboa had to serve under Gunny Asshat Gibbs, he'd likely punch Gibbs in the nose on a regular basis just to let off steam. Ric had no doubt though that the agency shrink would classify Tony's clowning around as a far more adaptive coping mechanism than physical violence.

Anyway, regardless of Ric's radically dissimilar definition of banter to Gibbs' et al, McGee's monkey comment had gone so far beyond what constituted teasing repartee that even if it hadn't been directed at a supervisor it still would have required action by his team leader. And yet...nothing.

As far as Balboa was concerned, the delivery had been intended to rubbish his superior in a way that was incredibly brazen. McGee obviously felt there wouldn't be any punitive consequence for it and well to be fair, there hadn't been any in the past so the senior supervisory agent couldn't exactly blame him for thinking that there wouldn't be any consequences this time either.

And so far, there hadn't been any. However, Ric to refused to collude by looking the other way a moment longer. Why couldn't other people see how inappropriate it was to allow it to continue?

Resolving to finally take some long overdue action, Balboa had sent emails to all the DC senior supervisory agents, (bar one who would not appreciate their 'meddling' in his affairs) for an urgent SSA meeting in Conference Room 2 in 20 minutes. He knew not everyone could make it but that enough team leads would be there to take decisive action. Not before time he was ashamed to say.

Wandering off to get some coffee he felt a huge sense of relief. Maybe after today he'd be able to sleep soundly again. Leo Tolstoy said that 'wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it' and that seemed to be a pretty apropos to this situation.

Slowly the other team leaders started to drift into conference room two, those on the same floor as the MCRT and had been present today had an inkling of the purpose of the meeting but others were looking bemused. As all the senior supervisory agent s bar five who were off on investigations took seats, Balboa thanked them for their prompt attendance and got to the point without preamble.

"Okay, we all have stuff to do so let's get to it. There's a giant elephant in the room regarding chain of command and the MCRT. After what just happened, I'm no longer prepared to let things slide. I'd like to think I have all your support but regardless, I'm no longer going to stand idly by and do nothing. I'm giving you all fair warning. I intend to take action – no backing down!" He stated firmly.

"What happened today, Ric?" Thomas Walsh inquired curiously. As the senior supervisory agent for the financial crimes team who was housed one floor down from them, he hadn't been privy to the earlier occurrence.

Ric recounted the conversation succinctly.

There was shocked murmuring from those who hadn't already heard the conversation.

"Oh man, if DiNozzo had said that to one of the juniors on the team, his ass would be toast," Marisol Myers exclaimed stunned, her dark brown eyes expressing her dismay.

"Yeah Gibbs would have head smacked him so hard he'd have a grade two concussion," asserted one of the old timers, Ed Benson.

"Gibbs would have reacted if he was there. He'd have no choice! He must have left the bull pen," Walsh protested instantly, his dark forehead furrowed refusing to accept that a senior supervisory agent would be complicit in such inappropriate behaviour.

Balboa shook his head. "No, I checked, Tom. He was there – never batted an eye or opened his mouth. Others can vouch that what I'm saying is true. Even Director Shepard heard it and looked shocked but surprise, surprise, she chose not to get involved."

Jeramiah Rankin snorted loudly. "Hardly surprising, since she's partly to blame for all this chain of command crap."

Myers stared at the veteran senior supervisory agent. "How do you figure that, Jerry? This is a longstanding issue that existed in the MCRT even before she took over. Ever since Gibbs hired a former Secret Service agent with dubious profiling skills and zero investigative training."

"Yeah but it's gotten a lot worse since Gibbs' so-called margarita safari. Director Shepard giving a rookie agent like McGee the senior field agent job against regulations was bound to cause trouble, as I distinctly remember telling you all at the time. Far be it for me to say I told you so, but I did tell you so," Jerry smirked at his colleagues. His nicotine stained fingers scratched the side of his weathered face as he spoke.

"Two years' experience as a field agent – one of which was as a probationary agent when the minimum requirement is five years field experience before being eligible for promotion to senior field agent – always going to make him cocky. He thinks he's better, smarter than DiNozzo. The truth is all supervisory positions were irrevocably tarnished when she ignored procedure and appointed someone who clearly failed to meet the minimum level of experience and qualifications for the job. We all know there were several other eminently well qualified candidates, seasoned agents and investigators who should have been appointed to the job. Agents who would have jumped at the chance.

"Plus, the other senior field agents were mad as rattlesnakes because it lowered their standing by insinuating that specialised leadership skills and job experience weren't required to do the job – that any newbie fresh outta FLETC could do their job. Once he assumed the senior field agent role, McGee and that psycho Israeli spy were even more insubordinate and out of control and Shepard did nothing to back DiNozzo. Now that Gibbs is back, they're worse if that is possible and Jethro seems to think the chain of command begins and ends with him – that it's fine for his junior agents to do as they damn well please."

Balboa nodded. "You're right, Jerry. We should have taken our concerns to Director Shepard or if she refused to listen, then gone to Sec Nav. But I think that Shepard deliberately appointed a complete rookie as senior field agent knowing it would inflate McGee's arrogance and insubordinate attitude since she wanted DiNozzo isolated by his team. Being constantly attacked by them made him extremely vulnerable to her manipulation so she could gain his loyalty quickly.

"Plus, he was too busy trying to stave off attacks from David and McGee while working the cases so he wouldn't have time to do any independent digging into the so called 'mission.' She obviously never intended for the appointments to be permanent, since she didn't file Gibbs retirement papers with HR and just let him come waltzing back in, no questions asked."

Marisol rolled her eyes and observed, "She didn't even insist he undergo a proper psychological or medical examination, merely requested that Dr Mallard check him over and clear his return to duty.

"Which was a problem since Dr Mallard wasn't a psychologist and his physical exam was obviously constrained by the fact that he didn't have a lot of diagnostic equipment. Certainly not to assess someone who'd previously suffered numerous closed head injuries."

All present at the meeting nodded at Marisol's comments, although as they all knew, Ducky had been absolutely furious with Gibbs at that time and they'd barely been able to exchange a civil word between them. Clearly that must have hindered his ability to examine the Marine, who was infamous about avoiding medical aid at the best of times.

Ed Benson, a grizzled veteran, an agent from the NIS days nodded. "I agree. If she'd really been serious about supporting DiNozzo and the welfare of the MCRT she'd have given him a qualified senior field agent, one with an appropriate level of experience. She wanted him to struggle. You do all realise that the team she gave him, aside from his own 11 years' field experience, had a woefully inadequate three years investigative experience between David, Lee and McGee. The Flag Ship team that handled all the major cases for our agency in DC who had just lost its most experienced agent (Gibbs with over 15 years' experience) was replaced with Michelle Lee? Talk about setting someone up to fail."

Myers looked surprised. "You know Ed, I never really did the math! And that was totally inexcusable for a MCRT to be so completely inexperienced. To go from a collective 30 years of field experience to less than half that with just 14 years – most of which was centred in just one agent. So how in heck did the solve rate stay steady after Gibbs left?"

"DiNozzo basically lived at the office, except when he was running errands for the director. Probably would have been easier for him if he'd been working solo," Balboa remarked dryly. "Less conflict to have to cope with."

"Plus, by giving him a bunch of rookies, two who were also as arrogant as they were inexperienced, believing they were better qualified to lead, chances were that they'd never notice that he was running a long term undercover mission. She couldn't take a chance on her unauthorised op being discovered but she knew they'd never believe that he could do both. A real senior field agent would have been watching DiNozzo's six and glommed onto what was going on straight away." Ed observed cynically.

Marisol snorted somewhat inelegantly. "Well Shepard was dead right about that."

Rankin looked at his fellow senior supervisory agents and shrugged. "Okay that was then – this is now. We can't change any of that unfortunately. What do you suggest we do now? Gibbs has made it clear since his return that he doesn't welcome interference, especially when it comes to his team. We've all tried speaking to him privately, Ric, trying to talk some sense into him but he refuses to see there's a problem. You say the Director heard the insubordinate comments and did nothing? If that's the case, realistically what the hell can we do?"

Myers nodded, along with most of the other SSAs who were yet to speak. "I agree. Much as I abhor what is going on in the MCRT and I wish that Tony was getting the support he deserves – the support his position demands, I don't know there's much that can be done about it. And being practical here, I don't see the point in making an enemy out of Gibbs for no good reason. Isn't that why we've always taken the Sergeant Schultz approach of _'I see nothing'_ in the past?" she asked, referring a character to in the 70s sitcom Hogan's Heroes. "So, what's changed Ric that you want to go up against the Bastard with Two Bs all of a sudden?"

Ric looked around the conference table at the other Senior Supervisory Agents. There'd been fourteen who'd been available to attend their impromptu meeting at such short notice. He was disappointed to see that while they all agreed with him in principle, there was also a strong reluctance to take on Gibbs.

"A number of reasons." He replied. "First off, because it's the right thing to do, Marisol. I'm so damned tired of not sleeping well at night. And I finally realised that this laissez faire approach of ours was a heap of crap that was going to come back and bite us on our asses."

Caroline Whitty looked alarmed since she was one of the more conservative senior supervisory agents and was alarmed at anything that might threaten her neatly ordered world. "How so, Balboa?"

"I have it on good authority that our senior field agents feel they can't count on our support anymore because we just stand by and let two junior agents crap all over the position of senior field agent. They believe that we don't trust or respect them either. They argue it sends a message to all the other junior agents that they can disobey their orders and be insubordinate with impunity too. It's breeding discord and dissent on our teams, not just the MCRT."

The senior supervisory agents looked disturbed. "That's not the case. No one approves of the failure of the MCRT to enforce the chain of command, Ric." Marisol objected strenuously.

"Maybe not philosophically but if we don't make it stop then aren't we to all intents and purposes, supporting it." Rod Averson, their newest SSA pointed out.

Benson looked at the young gun appraisingly. "Desmond Tutu, the human rights activist once said, 'It is small comfort to a mouse, if an elephant is standing on its tail, to say _'I am impartial.'_ In this instance, you are really supporting the elephant in its cruelty."

Rod nodded. "Exactly, if you aren't part of the solution then you're a part of the problem. Look, I haven't been team lead here in DC all that long and I've probably missed earlier discussions. Maybe you've already thrashed out these issues but I have some concerns I'd like to raise."

Jerry Rankin smiled at the young gun. "Go ahead, Rod. A fresh perspective is always helpful. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees."

"Okay, well I know that Gibbs hates to work with other teams but we are a small agency. When we get big cases, or are in a takedown that requires more than one team, there is no choice but to work together with other teams. Personally, I have serious reservations about working with his – they're cowboys. It seems to me that the only person they will accept orders from is Gibbs. They refuse to follow orders from DiNozzo without an argument, not as their senior field agent and from what I've heard, not even when he was the team lead."

Pausing, Rod stared meaningfully at his fellow senior supervisory agents. "What makes any of you think that they would obey one of us out in the field or if it came down to it, follow the orders our own SFAs issued in a life or death situation? Despite their obvious lack of experience, they already think they're better agents than Tony.

"So, tell me... why would they obey senior supervisory agents and senior field agents they hardly know?" The fledgling team lead demanded of his more seasoned team leaders.

Balboa noted with amusement that Rod's sandy hair was sticking up crazily in every which direction from the young gun running agitated fingers through it as he talked. Rod despite his youthful inexperience as a senior supervisory agent eyeballed each person in the room to underline his point. It didn't go unnoticed by Balboa and several others that many of them failed to return his eye contact.

Ryan Donnelly, an unassuming leader who handled sexual assaults nodded thoughtfully. Until now he'd stayed out of the discussion, not seeing that it really impacted on him all that much. "You're right Rod, I'd never thought that far ahead. If terrorists tried to take out the building, I don't want that pair arguing about my orders if we're trying to evacuate everyone. If I tell them to take people down the stairs and not use the elevator I don't want to have to explain why. I want them to jump – and I'd expect them to follow Carmen's orders too," he said, referring to his senior field agent. "But would they?"

Ric acknowledged the point. "They're insubordinate enough to push you into the lift with them, simply to be bloody minded. But as someone whose team does back up the major case response team out in the field a number of times per year, I agree that the chain of command failures pose a problem for my team that I haven't fully considered either. I have to say, I have grave concerns too."

He saw some senior supervisory agents looking cynical. "Okay... say for instance, what if Gibbs gets taken out – either KIA or unconscious and he can't lead? I'm not at all confident those two agents would follow my orders any more than they would accept Tony's either now you've mentioned it, Rod." He acknowledged the newbie senior supervisory agent. "They could very easily get us all killed and every one of us would have some responsibility for it since we were aware of the situation and chose to ignore it to make our lives' easier."

Ric shook his head in disgust. "Well no more!"

"Valid point, Balboa," Rankin shook his head. "Okay so let's change up your scenario a little bit. Let's say that Gibbs team has just rescued some hostages and they get caught up in a second firefight when reinforcements arrive, ambushing the team. Gibbs is unconscious and needs immediate assistance due or he'll bleed out. As the senior field agent, DiNozzo assumes command and David and McGee start questioning his orders then go renegade. Hostages are shot and killed, as is McGee, since in a gunfight he's the least experienced agent on that team and combined with his arrogance, the most likely one to be taken down."

A few people nodded in agreement of his assessment.

"Any subsequent IA inquiry is going to uncover the chain of command shit on the MCRT and they'll want to know why we all sat around braiding each ours' hair and why we let people die so we wouldn't piss off an ass-hole senior supervisory agent." The veteran stated bluntly, rather pointedly directing his comments at agents like Walsh and Whitty.

"Call me stupid but somehow, I don't think that the excuse that a former director gave Gibbs carte blanche to choose his own team will get our asses out of the fire or the new director won't rock the boat now she's got him back from Mexico. Nor that she doesn't stop him because now she's got the top job, she figures a little hide the salami with Jethro on the director's desk wouldn't go astray." He finished up rather crudely, alluding to her unprofessional and extremely obvious attempts to seduce Gibbs.

A few people chuckled despite the seriousness of the topic. It was after all the worst kept secret in the building. Opinion was divided on whether Gibbs would continue to rebuff Shepard's ham-fisted attempts to get into his pants or he'd screw her silly to remind her what she'd let go. Then compound the insult by dumping her in post coital bliss with a 'Dear Jane letter' saying he wanted to focus on his career.

Slightly more SSAs leant towards the second option since it was well recognised that he could be a vindictive SOB when it suited his purposes. Which was probably why they'd all let this chain of command issue slide for far too long.

Ed Benson chuckled grimly before refocusing on the serious subject at hand, offering up his thoughts on the matter. "I agree with most of your scenario guys but I think that it is much more likely DiNozzo would step in front of a bullet for his probie...or anyone on the team if he could."

The other team leaders looked bleak, tacitly acknowledging Ed's assessment. DiNozzo had already proved he would sacrificing his own life for each member of the MCRT on numerous occasions. Even though his team were insubordinate and disrespectful he wouldn't hesitate to save their lives if he could.

The senior supervisory agents were silent, imagining what the fallout was from Rankin and Benson's hypothetical scenarios and or the IA investigation would be, and none of it was good. They were all slowly coming around to seeing that their laissez faire tactic could easily blow up in their faces, just as Balboa had predicted. Self-preservation being a stronger motivator than purely ethical or professional considerations, all the team leaders were now firmly convinced that they should act.

But the question remained – what should they do?

Rod Averson who'd struck up a casual friendship with DiNozzo after discovering they both played a mean game of one-on-one, decided to drive the point home even more in case anyone had lingering doubts. "Apart from any concerns about our own asses, if something like that ever went wrong and someone was hurt under Tony's temporary command, regardless of any findings that IA or an independent commission of enquiry might make, DiNozzo would blame himself. He'd end up drowning in guilt but it would be our fault because we didn't have his six when it counted.

Rod looked across at Ric who having called the meeting was acting as the unofficial chair of their meeting. "I'm in Balboa. What do ya want us to do?" Others murmured in accord.

Ric grinned – a mixture of relief and victory. "I think we need to confront Gibbs en masse. Lay out for him - all the points that we made today and insist that he start observing regs and enforcing the chain of command on his team. We stipulate that David and McGee must respect the position of senior field agent, even if they can't/won't respect the man."

"And when he's told us to get our heads out of our asses like he has ever other time we've approached him informally about the issue over the years?" Whitty asked, playing devil's advocate.

"Then we inform him that we will be issuing written censures for every incident we observe of insubordination, every single failure of David and McGee to follow orders of their superior, Caroline. Each and every failure to observe the chain of command by his team – starting with the gross insubordination that took place in the bull pen just now. If we act collectively and submit any censures directly to HR, Gibbs and Director Shepard will not have any choice but to put a stop to all the crap." Ric replied harshly although he knew that Caroline was merely speaking the truth.

"We could also start giving them orders too and encourage our SFAs to throw their weight around, instead of going out of our way to avoid them to keep on Gibbs' not-such- a- bastard side." Marisol suggested a little tentatively. "Instead of avoiding them, really come down hard on them. Make sure they get the message we're not going to accept them ignoring procedure anymore and they have to obey the rules, same as everyone else."

Jerry Rankin smirked. Badass Marisol! I like it...okay, it's a plan, people. Let's take back the collective control of our agency." He stood up and the rest of the senior supervisory agent s stood, applauding jubilantly.

Ed Benson climbed on one of the tables and yelled – Viva la revolucion! More cheers ensued along with foot stomping, serving as a much-needed relief valve to the high tensions the team leaders were feeling.

Ric had the final word before the meeting adjourned. "Okay, everyone - I suggest we go grab a very strong coffee to fortify ourselves before we call in Gibbs and unleash what is bound to be an almighty shit storm. Should be fun!" he observed wryly.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2: Viva la revolucion!

An: Thanks to all those readers who reviewed and faved. I need to express a mea culpa for accidentally posting the tag with the wrong title. I blame it on exhaustion and the manic craziness of the holidays. I've rectified it now and I'll once again thank Arress for lending her beta'ing skills to the story even though I've tinkered with it a bit and the Trips and RCEpups for technical advice.

Warnings: Previous warnings apply! Please not that email addies are blocked by fanfic dot net so while I've spaced them out, they still might eat then - it's a crap shoot . Sorry about that!

This tag is my Christmas gift. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone.

Chapter 2: Viva la revolucion!

 ** _Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened._**

 ** _Billy Graham_**

"I'm busy. Got a case. Can't it wait?" Gibbs growled into his phone.

"Nope, this is important. Grab a coffee and haul ass, Jethro," Balboa retorted and hung up before Gibbs could protest further. Also, psychologically, Ric wanted the upper hand – hanging up on Gibbs... he knew it would piss him off.

The unfortunate truth was that Gibbs was a master of psychological intimidation and could browbeat the entire contingent of SSAs if they gave him an inch. He was so damned used to bulldozing his way over the top of everyone to get what he wanted and Balboa was determined that this time he was going to end up on his ass.

Since Ric was a realist, he was going to take any and all advantages and use them to maximum potential in order to win this round. Failure was not an option.

Within a few short minutes the senior supervisory agent of the MCRT stomped into the conference room, armed with a large coffee and one massive chip on his shoulder. Situation normal for Leroy Jethro Gibbs!

"What?" he barked, sending a laser-like glare at everyone in the room individually, as more than half of the other SSAs dropped their eyes submissively.

Balboa could see that Jethro was surprised that it wasn't a full house. Some of his peers held his gaze. Interestingly their baby SSA wasn't one of the ones to submit. Good on him!

Balboa stepped up to the plate. "We've come to a resolution about the ongoing discipline issues plaguing your team Gibbs and felt it was only fair to inform you of the outcome."

The Marine fairly bristled with outrage. "There aren't discipline issues on my team, Balboa," he growled menacingly and Ric was dismayed to see Caroline Whitty visibly shrink in her seat. "I say jump, my team asks how high, how long and what else should they be doing while they're in the air."

"There is a chain of command structure within each team, Gibbs just like when you were Corps. It wasn't just you as gunny and a platoon of privates. DiNozzo is their superior too and he didn't just get the rank because he can do the extra paperwork that goes with the SFA position." Benson stated firmly.

"Maybe in your teams but it's really not necessary in mine, except on paper to keep the pencil pushers from crawling up my ass. I was given carte blanche to run my team the way I want to. Got my own set of rules and I'd say they're working pretty damned well since I have the highest closure rate in the whole damned agency.

"So, you see nothing insubordinate with what McGee told DiNozzo before?"

Gibbs looked puzzled. "What?"

"Just push the buttons I tell you to push, Monkey. You didn't find that unacceptable... disrespectful...insubordinate?"

"Nope. He was a bit wound up because of his new girlfriend was giving him a hard time."

The SSA for the sex crimes team, Ryan Donnelly narrowed his eyes crossly. "Oh really? That's his excuse? How long have they been together – a few days, a few weeks? No one on the team cut Tony any slack when he was devastated by the crap with La Grenouille's daughter when they broke up - they were together for a hell of a lot longer. than that. Hypocritical much, Jethro?"

Balboa rolled his eyes. "Excellent point Ryan! Straw poll, guys. Show of hands if you think telling your supervisor _'just push the buttons I tell you to push, Monkey,_ ' is insubordination?"

Fourteen hands plus Ric's were raised in the air and Gibbs scowled. "It was just DiNozzo, not a supervisor. My team banters – it's how we work. Besides when you lie to your team, ya gotta expect there to be blowback.

"You're saying that if McGee had told you to 'just push the buttons I tell you to push, Monkey' you'd have been fine with it, Jethro? I mean it's no secret that you are a real Luddite when it comes to technology and think that when you smash your phone it can be fixed by 'rebooting' it. And you conceal things from your team regularly." Marisol probed.

"That's different, Myers. I'm the senior supervisory agent."

"So was Tony when he was ordered undercover by your old probie and given a direct order not to reveal his mission to anyone. That includes his team mates. I was under the impression that the director was your, McGee and David's superior but I guess he was supposed to ignore her orders and do what the three of you told him to do. But you didn't answer the question," Myers persisted. "You would have been fine with being told to, _'push the buttons I tell you to push, Monkey.'_

"Hell no! I'd have ripped his head off and forced it up his ass but I'm his boss."

Jerry cursed. "Son of a bitch, Jethro. DiNozzo IS McGee's supervisor – it's not banter, it is a serious lack of respect for a senior field agent. A junior agent has no more right to speak to him like that than he does you. Not ever! No matter what the provocation.

"It belittles the position of SFA for all of our 2ICs and all the supervisory staff have had a gutful of it. We aren't here to debate the issue with you either, just to make sure it stops because your team is undermining agency rules and procedures."

"I don't think so, Jerry. My team, my rules."

"The last time we looked it was the agency's team and their rules, so not any more. This affects us all, Jethro." Jerry insisted stolidly.

They proceeded to argue, the other SSAs listing all the hypothetical situations that they felt could arise due to the junior agents' failure to follow any orders that weren't his if things went south. Gibbs scoffed at their fears, insisting he'd trained his team to perform like a well-oiled machine. That as a Marine he had higher standards than the agency did. He counter-attackeded that this was just a ruse to stick their oars into his business because they were threatened by his team's superior performance.

Balboa was pissed off. "Don't be a dumb ass, Jethro. This stops NOW! W **e'** ve passed several resolutions. You either go out there publicly and tell your agents that what McGee said today was completely unacceptable behaviour for a junior agent towards a senior agent and issue him with a formal written caution or I will," Ric insisted harshly.

"And from now on, every single time we observe an infraction of agency rules and regulations be it insubordination, failure to observe the chain of command or not following the orders of a superior we will all have no choice but to write them up for an official caution. If you refuse to take action, we will submit it directly to Human Resources." Jerry Rankin stated, determined to have Balboa's six on this.

"That pair of agents of yours are so out of line, thanks to you that it won't take long before HR will have no choice but to step in and your precious team will be significantly smaller." Ed warned him gravely. As the elder statesman of the DC office he hoped it added weight to the other agents' threats.

"I can't believe you two would be a party to such petty jealousy." He glared at Rankin who he perceived as the more easily intimidated of the veteran agents. "Why try to sabotage my solve rate?"

Rankin chuckled. "Get over yourself Gibbs! Some things are more important that statistics – like principles and acting ethically but I shouldn't have to tell that to a Marine." He shook his head in disgust.

Benson just glowered at him.

"BUT you wanna talk stats, the fine?" Balboa demanded, furiously. "Let's talk solve rates. If my memory serves, YOUR solve rate wasn't that impressive, not until after you poached DiNozzo from Baltimore PD back in 2001 because you couldn't get anyone to stick around and put up with your crap. And it also didn't improve, at least not in a statistically significant sense when you added Todd, McGee or David to your prized team. Nor did it fall off when you went to Mexico; so, my question is - who's solve rate is it really?

"I'd say it's DiNozzo's solve rate and as to why we're doing this? It's our agency and our rules – we're enforcing them. Yep Jethro, we're finally demanding back control of the lunatic asylum." Jerry chimed in cheekily.

The rest of the SSAs clapped and cheered him like a bunch of excited children, even the ones Gibbs had managed to cower with his gunny-glare earlier on.

Rankin wasn't done yet, either. "And by the way, you're pissed off with DiNozzo for not telling the team he was undercover? Well tough shit! Unlike the rest of your team he actually follows orders from a superior. Don't like it- then be a man and transfer him out instead of emasculating him because it isn't fair to him and it isn't fair to every other SFA in the place."

Balboa looked at his colleagues' nods of agreement. "Yeah, I'd take DiNozzo in a flash, any other takers?"

Fourteen other hands were raised, even Russell Jones from the team handling computer crimes.

Gibbs barked a sharp laugh. "Now I know this is a joke, Russ! DiNozzo can barely switch on his computer."

"No joke, Gibbs. You've got a short memory if you can't recall who did all the routine, grunt work which was computer or tech related for three years before McGee joined the MCRT. Granted Abby did all the heavy lifting but he can certainly handle the everyday stuff. Not as fast I'll admit and he can't write programs or hack like McGee can but let's face it, we're law enforcement professionals and hacking is illegal and it doesn't stand up in a court of law. Ya remember what that is don't'cha?" he taunted Gibbs sardonically before continuing.

"Sure, DiNozzo will never be McGee when it is computer related but from where I'm sitting that's probably a pretty good thing because unlike your junior agent, he also knows how to follow orders and respects the chain of command." Jones shook his head, wondering if Gibbs had selective memory loss or he was just acting dumb. "And while he respects the law he also thinks creatively. Got enough techies on my team who think like a computer – I'd love having a lateral thinker on board to complement them. Say the word and he's gone."

Before Gibbs could reply, Tom Walsh parried. "And anyone else find it interesting that the only team member that did follow orders and respect the chain of command and DiNozzo when you were gone was little Michelle Lee? Someone with zero field experience and who you hadn't trained, yet she still conducted herself with far more professional propriety and decorum. Even though she'd never even heard of Rule No. 1 she did a far better job of observing it."

"Mind you with only three years field experience between the three of them, I guess it's no surprise that she was able to exceed such very basic expectations. Still as a qualified lawyer it's interesting that she was no prima donna. SHE knuckled under and followed orders. Shame her reward was being booted off the team." Caroline summoned her courage and stood up for the young lawyer. Whitty had always thought the kid got the rough end of the pineapple.

Gibbs scowled at his colleagues. Interfering bunch of fools, jealous of his team's performance. They were bluffing, they wouldn't dare carry out their threat. He stood up and stalked out. "We're done here."

The rest of the SSAs exchanged glances. Balboa quipped. "Well…that went well." There were a few nervous titters.

Donnelly grinned. "There's no blood on the floor or walls. Our asses are intact. I'd say it was a great outcome. I for one am ecstatic"

"He's going call our bluff, isn't he?" Walsh asked his colleagues.

Jerry guffawed. "Does the bastard mainline Marine strength coffee? Course he is, Tom. May I suggest that when we go back to our desks, we all prepare a written warning about Special Agent McGee's insubordinate remarks to a superior today and give Gibbs one hour to issue his own? Otherwise we do exactly what we threatened to do."

Gibbs made it back to his desk without managing to deliver the mother of all head slaps he was itching to give DiNozzo but it was line-ball. Of course, the fact he was talking to someone on the phone was probably what ultimately saved his head from getting up close and personal with Gibbs hand. The former Marine was seething inside at his fellow senior supervisory agents' meddling and DiNozzo was always going to be his preferred pressure relief valve.

Morrow had given him carte blanche to recruit his own agents before he hired Tony and he'd taken that to mean he could govern his team how he saw fit, running roughshod over law enforcement procedures he thought were a crock and pretty much ignoring the agency's rules and regulations ever since. And he huffed, the proof of the pudding was definitely in the eating with his team having the best closure rate in the whole damned agency... if not all alphabets. That being the case, he was pretty damned sure that his fellow SSAs were bluffing – they'd had this discussion many times before and nothing ever came of it. He doubted that they had the guts to cross him. Few people did!

So, Gibbs did what he did so well, he ignored anything he didn't like because in his smugly secure belief, no one had the conjones to make him do anything he didn't want to. In this instance, he ignored the Instant Message from Ric Balboa informing him he had an hour to respond or the other SSAs would call his bluff and went on working while the rest of the bull pen was on tenterhooks.

Tony meanwhile was glancing at Gibbs repeatedly, sensing something other than their new case had crawled up the Boss' butt since he was so adept at reading Gibbs non-verbal skills. He had to be since the functional mute would rather have his toenails ripped out than speak if he could avoid it.

Looking at his superior he could tell he was absolutely seething and frankly, that didn't bode well for someone – usually him but he had no idea what had set Gibbs with two Bs off this time. Ziva and McGee kept shooting annoyed looks at Tony, convinced he was the cause of Gibbs obvious ill-humour since he was aiming his death ray glare at Tony. Clearly, they were expecting him to draw fire away from their precious butts like he always did.

 _Not that they ever appreciated it when he did draw the fire. Just bitched when he didn't – like it was their God-given right to be protected. And yeah, he'd done it without them requesting it but if he was going to be head slapped into a concussion it would be nice to receive some acknowledgement even if it was merely gratitude as opposed to a sense of entitlement._

Everyone else on the floor was tense too, except Balboa who seemed to be positively cheerful at the prospect of finally having some resolution on the issue. He was going to sleep like a baby tonight – even if he scored a black eye or sore jaw. So worth it!

The one-hour deadline expired and as Rankin had predicted, Gibbs had been calling _their_ bluff by ignoring them. Time to show him that they weren't messing around no more. He instant messaged the SSAs – ' _We're up, folks! JR.'_

 _'_ _Yep, into the breech…,'_ Ric IM'ed him back before sending another to the other SSAs at the meeting saying that their bluff was being called and if they wanted to participate, to be advised that ETA at Gibbs' bull pen was in two minutes.

Gibbs was sitting, feeling suitable smug when his Marine honed situational awareness made him conscious of the fact that there was movement on the floor, a lot of movement. Ric and Jerry, Marisol and Ed were heading to the MCRT's bull pen. Caroline, Jones and Aveson got off the elevator. More people exited the stairwell – Donnelly and Walsh among them and made their way towards McGee's desk.

He'd clearly made a grave tactical error… CRAP!

This wasn't a bluff, not this time and he'd underestimated the other SSAs quite badly it seemed. If he didn't want to lose serious face with his team and the other agents, then he was going to have to issue McGee with a formal warning for insubordination. He was being backed into a corner and nothing pissed Gibbs off worse than being forced to do something he didn't want to.

 _'_ _Suck it up Marine. No choice, so get it over and done with,_ ' he told himself. He stood up from his desk and stalked over to McGee.

"Special Agent McGee, I'm issuing you with a formal warning for your insubordinate behaviour towards your superior, Special Agent DiNozzo earlier today. You were way out of line with your comment about the monkey and it's not gonna fly. Perhaps I've been too lax in not rebuking you and Officer David about your insubordinate and disrespectful attitude in the past. This would include but is not limited to your failure to follow his orders without an argument and failure to observe the chain of command. Well no more, is that clear Special Agent McGee and Officer David?"

"But Gibbs, it's just Tony, he's not my superior. He's not anyone's superior." Ziva objected.

"Not true, Ziva. He's a superior pain in the neck." McGee quipped.

"Correct Tim. He's a superior screw up." Ziva 'bantered' back and forth with Tim in their usual 'teasing' fashion, not noticing how Gibbs was glowering. Not to mention the other SSAs.

"He's your immediate superior and perhaps you two need to study the NCIS handbook to learn about the duties and the responsibilities of a senior field agent. If you can't or won't understand that you're subordinate to him then your days on our team are numbered, David. Do you want me to make that censure of yours includes a suspension, McGee?"

"But Boss I was just joking." McGee protested strenuously, unable to see what was suddenly wrong with heaping crap on DiNozzo when they did it every day or why the Boss was only now being pulled up over it - hours after the fact. Gibbs hadn't batted an eyelid when he'd said it.

"So, you weren't pissed off and lashing out at someone ya knew would let it go?"

"No boss, it was just a bit of fun." McGee pouted. "Tony makes jokes all the time."

"And you weren't pissed that your girlfriend Bumbler stole your identity to carry out credit card fraud in your name?"

"I believe McGee called her Bimbo, Gibbs." Ziva supplied helpfully, realising she may have grossly misread Gibbs' mood and was hoping to earn back some fairy points again.

"It's Bimby, not Bumbler...not Bimbo." Tim pouted. "But it was just a joke." McGee insisted.

"The credit card fraud or the monkey? I did not know monkeys pushed buttons, Tim." Ziva asked sweetly, though her eyes gave away her vindictive attempt to distance herself from the crap he now found himself stuck in. "And is that not the second time… no wait… the third time you've had your identity embezzled? That is quite careless for a federal agent."

"Um… no Boss?" The junior agent whined responding to Gibbs inquiry and ignoring Ziva's taunting, though he scowled at her.

"I see. So, you sayin that you'd have thought it was funny to say that to me, Elf Lord?" Gibbs glared, furious that McGee was proving Balboa's point.

McGee went white. "Um ah…well that is to say no, Sir."

"Why not? Ya sayin I don't have a sense of humour?"

"You're the boss. It would be um…ah disrespectful to call you a monkey or suggest you are ah… stupid, Sir um Boss."

"Well the same applies to DiNozzo, Special Agent McGee."

God damn it! The idiots arguing with him about DiNozzo in front of the other SSA's wasn't just undermining his own authority but it was making the case for Balboa and his toadies. He was gonna have to come down on them like a ton of bricks! He was so going to kick is sorry ass on the mats later.

Seeing the unsmiling faces of the other fifteen SSA's standing around closely observing the proceedings, Gibbs who was nothing if not a brilliant strategist, decided to save as much face as he could from this FUBAR situation.

"From this point on, you step out of line and I will slap you with a written caution every time you even think about putting a toe over the line. Even if you don't respect the man you will respect his position or lose yours. DiNozzo is going to turn into a hard ass, stop turning the other cheek and start writing either of you up if you even think about stepping out of line." He yelled at them, suddenly morphing into a rabid drill instructor, circling in close around them and yelling at them from behind.

"See all these SSAs?" he demanded. "They're gonna be my eyes and ears in the bull pen when I can't be here. I've told them I want them to write you up too and I'm also inviting all of their senior field agents to come down on ya like a ton of bricks. Both of ya."

Gerry Rankin laughed sardonically. "Gee Gibbs, that's effing brilliant." He looked mockingly at his fellow SSAs. "Now why the hell didn't we think of that?"

The other SSA's reactions varied from amusement to hostility but in the buzz with the other agents all talking at once, any antagonism from his peers went largely unnoticed by most of the others present.

Meanwhile the SFAs on the floor all stood in unison and cheered loud and long, bar one abstainer. Tony was standing frozen, his jaw hanging open. His look of amazement, disbelief, suspicion and then scepticism was pretty easy to read. Things had just gone totally alternate universe and he was wondering if it was a dream and trying to figure out when the bomb was going to blow up in his face.

Indira Singh, one of the newer SFAs siddled up to him and pinched him hard on the arm and as he frowned and rubbed it, she leant up close to him and murmured.

"Bizarre is it not? But you are not dreaming or if you are then we all are."

He smiled gratefully at the newbie and watched in fascinated horror as Gibbs stalked up to McGee and gave him his best gunnery sergeant glare and a head slap to match. The junior agent caved, almost instantaneously dropping his head, his shoulders slumping submissively. The boss grinned, shark-like before hightailing it up to Ziva and repeating the process but she was not so easily cowed.

"I think that you have forgotten that I am with the Mossad and do not have to follow NCIS rules."

"You're here as liaison. Subject to the same rules as any NCIS agent. At the risk of repeating myself, you'll both respect the position if you can't respect the man who holds it. Don't like it, I'll pack your bag, drive you to Dulles and put you on the first plane out to Tel Aviv, myself. We clear Ziva?"

She glared at him but really had little choice. "Yes Gibbs."

"Muh...Gee, if you think that's gonna be a problem for you then I'll write a transfer for you to another team, if you want." He threatened, knowing that McGee would never want the loss of prestige.

"No Boss. I want to stay."

"Good, now let's get back to work. DiNozzo, stop catching flies and find me Thomas Zuri.

"On it Boss." Tony reply reflexively, still not understanding what just went down. There were too many undercurrents and sub-plots for him to untangle and he was usually on top of what took place in the murky realm of interpersonal office politics.

Coda:

From: indirasingh ncis. gov

To: seniorfieldagents ncis. gov

My esteemed fellow senior field agents.

What just happened? Did we all just get invited to write up Gibbs' junior agents if they step over the line and ignore COC, are insubordinate or do not follow orders? What is with SSA Gibbs? Is he perhaps dying?

Indira Singh Senior Field Agent, NCIS

From: tdinozzo ncis. gov

To: seniorfieldagents : indirasingh ncis. gov

Hey Indira,

Didn't I tell you we don't expect that degree of formality when emailing each other? If not… then my bad. And to answer your question, frankly, I'm still pinching myself and wondering the same thing. Still… judging by the poisonous looks from the aforementioned agents that I've been copping across our bull pen, I'd say that yes, yes he did. Off to check the pod!

T

From: indirasingh ncis. gov

To: tonydinozzo ncis. gov; seniorfieldagents

Tony,

What is a pod? I am not familiar with that aspect of the role of a SFA. Could you explain so I may also check it?

TIA Indira

From: carmendowney ncis. gov

To: seniorfieldagents ncis. gov; indirasingh ncis. gov

Relax Indira,

Just DiNozzo's warped sense of humour from a movie. I propose a SFA movie night next week in MTAC – theme - aliens. Tony organises the movies, one of which must contain pod people. I'll organise the snacks!

Cheers

Carmen Downey

From: tonydinozzo ncis. gov

To: carmendowney ncis; seniorfieldagents ncis. gov

Sounds good, Carmen. You really can't beat Invasions of the Body Snatchers. I'll attend to it ASAP.

T

From: stevebaker ncis. gov

To: seniorfieldagents ncis. gov

Guys,

Getting back to solving the mystery of what just happened - Ric had a formal written censure clutched tight in his trigger hand when he headed off to Gibbs' bull pen today. Saw the other SSAs all packin heat (paper) too.

I think what we just witnessed was a showdown at the It Aint Okay Corral.

Praise the lord and pass the beers! Rocky knew I was mightily pissed 'bout their disrespect for us SFAs, actually he knew that we all were cuz yours truly told him so! *Takes a modest bow. * You may all thank me later! (See below.)

Guess the SSAa decided to locate their gonads and finally stand up and be counted. Better late than never I s'ppose.

What say we head on down to the saloon after work to celebrate the victory for senior field agents against the forces of evil. Tony, first beer is on me.

Cheers Steve

From: tdinozzo ncic. gov

To: seniorfieldagents ncis. gov

Steve

Interesting analysis – all the SSAs you say?

Cool analogy. You a Duke fan by any chance?

Probably need a raincheck on the beer unless we find the gypsy cab driver.

Catch ya later, cowboy!

T

Later that same day:

From: edbenson ncis. gov

To: seniorsupervisoryagents ncis. gov

Elvis has left the building! I repeat, Elvis has left the building.! Vote we convene for a short ten-minute post mortem.

Ed

From: jerryrankin ncis. gov

To: seniorsupervisoryagents ncis. gov

Out looking for a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich to go with the coffee, ya think? Let's say the break room on Rocky's level in five.

Jerry

From: edbenson

To: seniorsupervisoryagents

Snort! Much more likely a coffee sandwich!

Ed

~o0o~

"That hypocritical bastard!" Rod Averson growled aggravated. He took credit – made it seem as if he was responsible, not us."

Ed Benson chuckled. "That's why he's the original 'Teflon Coated Man.' Crap don't stick to him."

Jerry Rankin nodded his agreement. "He's got them damned big balls practically dragging the ground and he thinks quick on his feet."

"I don't care if he saved face. Every one of us here knows the truth and I'll wager that the SFAs know it too since they've all seen him egging on David and McGee. All I care about is that it's finally going to stop. My SFA is happy and I can sleep tonight." Ric declared placidly.

Caroline gave a wry smirk. "It is galling; I'll admit but whatever it takes. At the end of the day we won and hopefully it will put Gibbs on notice to treat his SFA with more respect too. If not, then I propose that we all ask DiNozzo to transfer onto one of our teams. I for one suspect that it would have a dramatic effect on our closure rates as well. If he can run a full time undercover Op. and practically singlehandedly run the MCRT with three rookies, I reckon he'd do wonders for our stats too."

"I propose a toast, ladies and gentlemen. To us and what the SFAs have dubbed the 'Showdown at the It's Not Okay Corral.' Jerry Rankin raised his coffee mug jubilantly, clinking it with Caroline's and Ed's and soon everyone had forgotten their pique and were congratulating each other on a job well done.

Balboa grinned. Yeah this was a great win for righteousness but he wasn't prepared to rest on his laurels, not just yet. There were still some pretty big unresolved issues for them to address, especially when it came to Gibbs, his bullying of agents and tacit approval of bullying. Most notable but not restricted to those damned head slaps. Despite being forced to attend the mandatory Harassment Training that the Department of Defence required all its employees to attend, it seemed that Gibbs still hadn't got the message that striking another agent **for any reason** was not permissible.

Failed to comprehend, since he thought those rules didn't or shouldn't apply to him and/or he was totally incapable of understanding the harm that it caused – morally, ethically, medically, physiologically and psychologically. Not to mention the effect brought to bear upon espirit de corps in his team and the agency, even if Tony had managed, in an astounding example of mental contortionism, to rationalise it as a sign of affection. Which to be brutally honest, Ric felt was deluded. Woefully, deluded.

He might have been more persuaded of the SFA's heart-rending 'sign of affection' line of reasoning IF Gibbs had also been head slapping him when they worked alone on the team for a year, since as partners, their relationship had appeared to be based on friendship and mutual respect. Yet there'd been no such head slaps back then.

In fact, it wasn't until Gibbs started bringing probies onto the team, probies with zero investigative experience and treating them as the equal of his former partner, ignoring chain of command and encouraging them to ignore it too and insisting that they all compete for his meagre approval; only then Gibbs had begun head slapping Tony. So, from where Balboa was standing, it had all the hallmarks of wanting to demean his 2IC - to put him in his place so he didn't threaten Jethro's established position as Demigod Deific and nothing whatsoever to do with signs of affection.

That and Ric truly believed that it also partly served as a relief valve, allowing the SSA to blow off steam due to his appalling temper and the tension he experienced due to the idiocy of the people he chosen to work on the MCRT. Plus, everyone else not on the team who didn't fall fawningly or petrified at his feet when he was working (i.e. breaking rules) to reach his target.

Ric's cousin Elizabeth Reyes was a clinical psychologist and he'd recently decided to ask her how someone like DiNozzo, a seemingly healthy, sane and intelligent adult male could rationalise continual physical assaults on their person by their superior. And that was despite it clearly flying in the face of Department of Defence Rules and Guidelines. Liz had pursed her lips disapprovingly, especially when he'd mentioned Tony's claim that it was a sign of affection, before cautioning that obviously she was speaking in generalisations, not having talked to the individual concerned.

His cousin explained that acceptance of clearly inappropriate physical contact occasioning assault and the attempt to justify it could easily be symptomatic of abusive and or neglectful relationships experienced during formative years. Liz talked a whole heap of psychobabble about addictions and children of addicts and alcoholics, parental psychopathology and them having personality disorders like Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder plus a heap of stuff he didn't understand.

Nevertheless, Balboa felt like it went a long way to explain why Gibbs' SFA, who seemed to have so much going for him, would take such a heap of toxic crap from the team and consent so eagerly to be Gibbs' whipping boy. It was status quo for him and he probably didn't realise it wasn't normal.

That particular minefield aside, there was also the issue that Officer David had just raised in the bull pen when she pointed out, ' _I think that you have forgotten that I am with the Mossad and do not have to follow NCIS rules._ ' Which made Ric wonder exactly what was the legal situation with having a foreign national working for their national security and intelligence agency being given access to highly classified and sensitive US military and intelligence data. If she really believed she didn't have to obey their rules, then where did that leave national security?

He already knew it wasn't lawful for her to issue warrants or arrest suspects during investigations and he knew that when Tony was working with her he made sure he didn't allow her to do either task, despite the fuss she made about it. Nor was it lawful for her to interview suspects and that meant if she did, cases could end up getting thrown out on a technicality. That wasn't even touching upon the issue of her picking locks to gain unlawful entry to premises and her intimidation of persons, including persons of interest, witnesses, bystanders and other agents.

And that seemed wrong on so many levels. What the hell were SECNAV and Shepard thinking when they made her liaison on the MCRT? Perhaps they were communing with Mama Coca at the time, since he didn't think that getting rip-snortingly drunk could possibly explain it. And seriously, where did that leave all of the agents whose continued existence relied on sensitive information remaining classified?

Maybe it was time to start documenting all the instances when Gibbs and his team broke the law, just to be on the safe side for everyone concerned.

~o0o~

Director Shepard emerged from the supply cupboard which had a vent in it that made it perfect for spying on the staff using the break room. She'd managed to pry that useful piece of intel. out of Jethro (along with various other spying ruses of his he used on his team) when he was post coital., right before he collapsed into unconsciousness during their short lived and tempestuous affair. Actually, she wouldn't have been at all surprised to find him in here too except, that he'd gone out for a cup of the good stuff, which had in turn resulted in the impromptu senior supervisory agent's meeting.

She smiled coquettishly, remembering her Jethro interrogation technique. It was amazing what she'd managed to worm out of him. Trying to torture intel out of Gibbs was like banging your head up against a brick wall; similarly, getting him drunk didn't work either. Apart from the fact that the jarhead had a phenomenal tolerance for bourbon, it just seemed to make him more taciturn and morose, not chatty. But she'd found out that Gibbs could be 'persuaded' to part with information for the cost of a good blowjob or far more to her liking, tight leather bustier and pants, a whip and some serious pain, since he was a masochist.

It amused her greatly to eavesdrop on the water cooler gossip about him, especially in the secretarial pool where those silly young and not so young women had Jethro pegged as a Dom. No doubt many of whom had secret fantasies about him dominating them sexually when the truth was that he was so screwed up over the loss of his wife and child, he could only ever truly enjoy sex when it came with pain. There was a very good reason, after all, why he gravitated to domineering, harridan types such as Hollis Mann and his three ex-wives. Even his surrogate daughters were overbearing, bossy and aggressive.

So, it was fairly easy to give him what he craved – a deep seated need to punish himself for feeling pleasure. Coupled with his fetish for a red head, and clad in black leather and he was putty in Jenny's hands – so to speak. Pity he never forgave her for leaving him with just a Dear John letter. She'd quite enjoyed learning to wield a whip, especially on the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

But at least she could now spy on her people as effectively as the almighty Gibbs. She had to admit, it was an awesome advantage to be able to listen in on private conversations, like now for example. It seemed that the other a/gents weren't going to be as malleable as she hoped any more. Maybe it had been a mistake to let the MCRT get so out of control but she'd hoped that in time DiNozzo would get over the La Grenouille business, get pissed at his team mates and come back to her. He was a very valuable asset to have in her corner but it seemed that with the SSAs and SFAs having his six, there was now little incentive to become her loyal Saint Bernard, instead of Gibbs. Crap!

Time to head back to the drawing board to figure out Plan B. Maybe she should have seduced him after all.

End Notes:

In this episode, Tony stated that he worked for the transit Police in Baltimore for 9 months. Four episodes later in Stakeout he then stated he worked Vice for two years in Baltimore PD. It has been mentioned in s03e09 Frame-Up that he'd spent a year undercover with the Mafia family to bring down Mike Macaluso while he was attached to Baltimore PD. In the episode Baltimore s08e22 he was a homicide detective and in Once A Crook, s11e05 he was working as a beat cop. You really have to admire how DiNozzo managed to squeeze so much into the two years that he was supposed to have served on the BPD. Gives a whole new definition to the term multi tasking, don't you think?


End file.
